talkpolitics | Entries tagged with diplomacy

Three months into Donald Trump's second term, it's becoming clear to foreign leaders that a visit to the Oval Office can come with a high risk of public embarrassment. As the BBC reports, such meetings often turn into spectacles of criticism, provocation, and even humiliation:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c753rlw4430o

The latest example came during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit. In a highly choreographed episode, Trump ambushed his guest with dimmed lights, a dramatic video presentation, and numerous media clippings. The presentation centered around discredited claims of a "white genocide" in South Africa - allegations that white farmers were being systematically targeted and killed.

When a journalist asked Trump what it would take to convince him these claims were false, Ramaphosa responded first, calmly suggesting the US President "listen to the voices of South Africans". Trump then asked a staff member to dim the lights and turn on a television to "show a few things" to the South African leader.

Sitting quietly nearby was Elon Musk, the South African born billionaire and Trump adviser, observing the exchange.

( Read more... )

luzribeiro

Trump meeting with Zelensky. Watch the 2nd half. What a clown.

VIDEO

Zelensky looks like he wants to slap the daylights out of Trump. "I can't believe I have to suck up to this guy." Yep, you guessed right. Trump is babbling incoherently... almost entirely about himself. As per usual.

I imagine that's something one must reconcile pretty early on if going into politics, especially if one's ambition is to be a foreign diplomat or a leader of international significance.

As to why people don't care about his apparent decline? Well... Most people have made up their mind, and aren't likely to change, unless one candidate utterly flops in a very public forum. The people on the fence generally don't pay avid attention to politics, and won't even watch something big like a debate.

I'd add that IMO Republicans these days are also much more blinded by partisanship, including negative partisanship, than Democrats.

The only way Trump could seriously bleed support is if he changed his tune on immigration. He could flip-flop on almost anything else - abortion, drugs, military, taxes, whatever - but for today's Republican base, which is loaded with racists and xenophobes, that is the red line in the sand.

nairiporter

South African Govt Commits to Arresting Russian Leader Putin
https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00086413.html

The South African government has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be arrested, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), if he visits the country to attend the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August.

Let's face it, Putin's main issue here is not whether he'd be arrested by a foreign country while away (note: he wouldn't be). His bigger concern that will likely prevent him from leaving home is for fear of being replaced while away. It happened to Krushchev who was at Sochi when the hardliners took over, and it was supposed to happen to Gorbachev, who was also at Sochi when the KGB tried to take over. In the latter case, Gorbachev was saved by the people and ruled another 2 years give or take.

With all due respect for my country South Africa, they don't matter when a decision of this magnitude is made. That whole "consensus decision" spoken by the High Commissioner is just political talk to save face for SA, allowed by the Russians who need all the friends they can get... and right now a declining SA aligns better with Russian than the West.

In short, the South African ANC government wanted him to come but the opposition party made a case through the court. In the end Putin decided that the risk of a coup while he was gone was too high and decided not to come. Sadly, this whole thing is a massive embarrassment for South Africa who has sided with Russian fascism.

mahnmut

And of course it's a geopolitical move. There's nothing surprising about any of this, including China's (and Russia's) reactions.

Naturally, China has warned of 'disastrous' consequences. Also more sabre rattling is being noted, planes and warships being on the move around the Strait of Taiwan, and the US assuring everybody they're not impressed.

China has suspended imports of hundreds of Taiwan products, too.

Curiously, Pelosi's visit has prompted demonstrations of BOTH support and opposition in Taipei itself. Pro-unification supporters in Taipei were seen carrying signs that read, among other things, 'The United States should not interfere in China's internal affairs.'

( Read more... )

ernads

I usually check up news every few hours or so. The last batch made me blink just a little bit...

apparently the Ukrainians with Israel to negotiate between them and the Russians.

I find it somewhat ironic that Israel, one of the world's worst war zones, a CPTSD nation, with be able to negotiate peace treaty between other nations.

But perhaps, exactly for that reason, we might be able to do that. And also Zelensky is correct in saying that Israel does have good relationships with both countries.

If that will indeed happen, it will be interesting to watch

asthfghl

"There's more space between them than there is between the Russian troops and the Ukrainian border" - From a comment on these Interwebz.

Macron's visit to Moscow had this fun moment where the negotiations table was soooo long it even reeked of symbolism. Indeed, these guys are worlds apart, aren't they? Couldn't be a more fitting piece of furniture.

Oh, and you guessed right. There are memes! Loads of 'em.

( Read more... )

abomvubuso

If you haven't heard, Australia has caused a diplomatic row with France by ditching a multi-billion-dollar order for French submarines in favor of an alternative deal with the United States and Britain.

Naturally, France is angry. It has called Australia a traitor, has recalled its ambassadors from the US and Oz, and all in all, things are going bad between those pals. And you thought Biden would be different from Trump?

This is all about China of course. The US wants to secure that China is being held in the Pacific, and fast. Meanwhile, France as a Pacific and Indian ocean nation also wants to play an important role in Indian-Pacific affairs, containing China without antagonising China. This is also about America's willingness to treat allies as allies, not vassals; it is about honesty and openness in international affairs.

It's a big story really. And all these tensions and clashes of interests have now surfaced in a nasty way.

We'll see what will happen. I'm thinking China is the happiest from this development. Because, you know, if your rivals are quarrelling, you know...

Oh, as for my question in the title. Macron now finds himself in a strange place – both vindicated by what has happened and humiliated by it. He has been saying for almost 4 years that NATO is "brain dead" (curiously, also Trump's words) and Europe can no longer rely on the United States to defend, or even consider, European interests.

He did want to strengthen France's role in the Pacific partly because he feared that Washington – whichever President might be in power – would stumble into a confrontational approach to China. He wanted Europe to have its own voice in western-Chinese relations. Which is understandable. But he probably over-reached himself. The US has now, in effect, slapped him down. And there's nothing much he can do about any of it.

mahnmut

No doubt about it.

US probes rash of health incidents among diplomats in Vienna

The victims tend to hear loud noise before the first symptoms start to appear.

Ya know, I suggest US diplomats start wearing tinfoil hats while abroad. The commander in chief, of course, should wear a tin bucket on his head because the largest amount of neural waves are going to be directed at him by the enemy. Obviously.

For all the rest among the populace, I recommend that you be very vigilant about those 5G waves, they're definitely here to get you!

mahnmut

Some conclusions after the US/USSR, oops, I mean Russia meeting.

My takeaway from this thing. Biden laid things out clearly before they met. He did not personally attack Putin before or during the meeting, and he kept it professional (unlike his predecessor, whose name is not to be uttered ever again).

It was clear to me Biden was giving Putin respect on the international stage. Something Russia always craves, and indeed is obsessed about IMO. The result: the ambassadors will return to work now. The tit for tat expulsions will be significantly reduced/ended - also increased local staff will be permitted at US facilities in Russia, and work will resume on both sides. And by work, I mean them talking to each other again. Not as friends, no. But partners in a tricky relationship.

There are new red lines, cyber, and on critical infrastructure, as there need to be, and these are to be addressed long term. New talks on nukes/new weapons will also be fleshed out, the groundwork has been laid. The tricky part is ahead of course, because the devil is always in the details (the big figureheads can talk and smile, and say words, but then it's down to what comes next and how it's all made into deeds).

Let's face it. Only an idiot wants relations with Russia to worsen. So IMHO we will see things announced in the next 3-9 months. After the Russian parliamentary elections in Sept, there'll be changes - definitely.

The stupid bickering about who surrendered to whom I leave to the pundits. They know no better.

kiaa

Ugh, did I get the names right? Well. I'm not much into world politics so how would I know (I lied, duh).

I'm used to this. Geneva regularly gets blocked by the global military armed to the teeth who don't want to allow the public's love reach the Chosen Ones. This place gets chosen for such events quite frequently, and for several good reasons.

One, Switzerland's strict neutrality. It's been there for more than 2 centuries. This has given this country an aura of impartial mediator of international issues, and a trusted diplomatic representative between countries. Many a serious problem have been addressed on this soil for that specific reason. Just to mention that Switzerland represents the US in front of Iran, since those two lovedoves have ceased diplomatic relations for some time.

( Read more... )

johnny9fingers

The US has issued the UK with a demarche over the N.I. agreement and Brexit.

The only media outlet that has run with this story is the Daily ~~Brexit~~ Express, astonishingly. The Express is under new ownership though.

If the US had issued a demarche to any other nation the Beeb would have been all over it. But from the BBC we have... crickets.

I've been saying for some years now just where we are heading. It's not nice to be proven right.

After a demarche normally come sanctions. I'm sure tourists will be welcome to North-Korea-on-Thames even without vaccination certificates.

fridi

The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Fahrizadeh in late November (considered the father of the Iranian nuclear program) has angered Tehran, as could be expected. The first response was passing a bill that allowed their government to block UN inspections from accessing their nuclear sites, and speeding up the uranium enrichment - provided that the crippling sanctions are not lifted in two months. But still, the public statements of their officials indicated hat they still haven't written off possible negotiations with the US.

Iran doesn't want to look weak, and of course it's hard to ignore the hardliners within the Iranian political elites. But the Iranians could gain from sticking to the policy of strategic patience. Joe Biden is about to get sworn in in about a month, so it's worth the wait.

Fahrizdeh's murder is believed to be Israel's work, and it was probably blessed by Trump. From where I'm standing this looks like he's doing his best to undermine any last prospects of Iranian-US diplomacy in his final days at the White House. But if Iran manages to hold their anger for a while more and wait for Biden to step in, the two sides would have a real chance to get back to the table.

( Read more... )

tcpip

Australia has various bilateral associations that promote friendship, cooperation, and understanding between the people of one country and another. Obvious to all, these represent a sort of soft-power strategic orientation as well as a source for business contacts, along with the more benign elements of cultural, scientific, and familial associations. A very notable example is the American Australian Association which is affiliated with its complement, the American Australian Association, and likewise the Australia-Britain Society and its complement, the Britain-Australia Society. Once upon a time, there was an Australia-Soviet Friendship Society; that was superseded by the Australia Russia and Affiliates Friendship Society. There is, of course, the Australia China Friendship Society as well.

The ties of Australia to the United Kingdom are not to be estimated; the nation was founded through the forced unification of that particular imperial power and as a result, our primary language is English, our head-of-state is the Queen of England, etc. However, following the great shift during the second world war following Curtin's "The Task Ahead" speech of 1941, Australia has increasingly been more of a junior partner to the United States, rather than to the United Kingdom. In a sense, the UK is a bit of a junior partner to the US as well these days. The Australia Russia and Affiliates Friendship Society has obviously declined in importance over the decades, and the Australia China Friendship Society has grown in importance.

What makes me wonder is why there is no Australia-European Union Society? There are, of course, associated cultural groups, such as Alliance francaise, or Goethe-Institut Australia, Italian Australian Club, the Australian Hellenic Council & etc. And there have been EU projects such as the Europe-Australia forum, designed to strengthen bilateral relations. But there is no Australia-Europe Society, and maybe there should be. After all, as is evident by the number of European cultural groups there is a good percentage of the population who come from continental descent. There is also a shared heritage of civil liberties and democratic traditions, along with being relatively advanced countries in terms of technology and economics. Indeed, among all the superpowers, real and emerging, I would argue that the European Union represents the most advanced features of that nature. It would be useful if, in Australia, there was some organisation that would represent this whilst also providing for the pan-European cultural perspectives.

mahnmut

Despite 'wonderful' meeting, Trump and Erdogan fail to resolve conflicts

Trump showed he doesn’t understand Turkey — while standing next to Turkey’s president

Wait, wasn't Donnie supposed to be a great diplomat, a master of eye-to-eye contact, a great deal broker? Then why isn't Recep the fussy boy responding to his love? But, but, Donnie said he's a "great fan" of Recep! I thought it was all supposed to be birds and roses after they meet?

Sure there was an exchange of niceties, but no real results. The two lovebirds spent more than an hour behind closed doors "discussing important topics", and Donnie promised he still considers Turkey a key US partner. But Recep wasn't particularly enthusiastic, what with all those sanctions, warnings against buying Russian weapons, and that infamous letter where Donnie essentially said "don't touch the Kurds, or else". Recep just kept a blank face, and reiterated his previous demands about getting back Gullen, etc. Donnie didn't say anything.

Recep then told Donnie his invasion of Syria should've happened way earlier, which would've prevented thousands of deaths. Whose deaths, you might wonder? Jihadist ones, perhaps. Oh, by the way Recep isn't quitting the Russian missile defense anytime soon, you can be sure of that. He won't get out of Syria, either. So, Donnie, sorry, but you're a shit of a deal-broker.

And these guys are supposed to be running this planet. Hate to say it, but seems like Vlad looks like the voice of reason compared to them. We're fucked. Duh.

luzribeiro

Here's a question. Should a foreign leader have the expectation their conversations with the POTUS will remain confidential?

My 2 cents: Foreign policy is not a shady backdoor deal done aside from the view of everyone else between two people. Those international meetings defining and establishing foreign policy have - pre-Trump - at nearly all times always had translators, advisors and other officials in the room, one in one meetings or phone calls are the very rare exceptions, if at all. So no, there is and should never be ANY expectation by a foreign leader that he/she can do backdoor deals with another government. That shit works only in shady governments... oh wait...

So here's the deal. Real foreign policy talks between real leaders are done with staff present and fully recorded, not in secret phone calls. It was Trump's own staffers who were alarmed enough about what he did to sound the alarm to Congress.

But we all know the Republican strategy on this:

1. Pretend it didn't happen and hope it will go away.
2. Try to make the story about the leak, not about Trump's apparent attempt using a foreign government to go after an American political candidate. And possibly extortion.

And it'll work. Again.

kiaa

French president Macron put a lot of effort and invested a huge amount of political resources to prevent the G7 meeting in Biarritz from becoming a full failure. He invited all sorts of guests, he included topics in the agenda that were meant to break the stagnant framework of this sort of summits. But most importantly, he wanted to make sure he'd perform well as a host - which he eventually did, albeit with some caveats and obstacles.

Macron indeed managed to outplay, outclass and outsmart his US counterpart on the Iran issue. And that's quite something, given the fact that Trump again proved to be a mean-spirited guest, who had only come to promote himself and his own personal interests, and just have fun by creating chaos and confusion among both journalists and political observers - like on the issue of trade. Even the fact that he was at a huge international forum didn't stop him from using his air time to berate and bemoan the media who were sowing discord on the meeting. I guess it's no use to even get me started on all the bluffs, lies, threats, spin and overall irresponsible and childish manipulation that came from him. It's just his default mode after all (his Brazilian colleague Bolsonaro, by the way, came somewhat close to emulating his level of asshollery).

( Read more... )

Credits & Style Info

Talk Politics.

A place to discuss politics without egomaniacal mods

MONTHLY TOPIC:
Failed States

DAILY QUOTE:

"Someone's selling Greenland now?" (asthfghl)

"Yes get your bids in quick!" (oportet)

"Let me get my Bid Coins and I'll be there in a minute." (asthfghl)

June 2025

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30

Talk politics.

A place to discuss politics without egomaniacal mods.

Entries tagged with diplomacy

Case in point for Trump's hostile diplomacy style

Trump-Zelensky total facepalm meeting

That's bold - or is it?

Just a few snippets on Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

War Update

Friday LOLz. That table, though!

Was Macron right about NATO?

It's those damned Russkies again

Pure business, and I like that

Butin and Piden are in town

the US has issued a demarche to the UK.

A chance for diplomacy

An AU-EU Society?

Even Twilight is a better love story than this

About that Trump/Biden/Ukraine drama

Check-mate, Don

Credits & Style Info

Links

June 2025

Summary